


Eternal Embrace

by thealphagate_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-22
Updated: 2006-03-22
Packaged: 2019-02-02 02:05:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12717483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealphagate_archivist/pseuds/thealphagate_archivist
Summary: Daniel receives a message across time, space and death.





	Eternal Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the archivists: this story was originally archived at [The Alpha Gate](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Alpha_Gate), a Stargate SG-1 archive, which began migration to the AO3 in 2017 when its hosting software, eFiction, was no longer receiving support. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. We e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are this creator and it hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Alpha Gate collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/thealphagate).

  
Author's notes: For more about Ni-ank-Khnum and Khnum-Hotep go to the wonderful [Reeder's Egypt Page](http://www.egyptology.com/reeder/).  


* * *

Daniel Jackson skimmed his fingertips lightly over the smooth, cool limestone of the sarcophagus. Just as its temperature was a surprise after the blasting heat of the desert and the stuffy warmth of the tomb, its featureless sides were a contrast to its ornately carved lid. 

Daniel looked down at the beautifully rendered face. Although it conformed to the standard idealised male face of Old Kingdom art, the features seemed to convey a hint of its owner's possible personality. The full lips were slightly asymmetrical, giving the face a somewhat amused appearance as if the man had just delivered the punch line to an ancient joke. 

Daniel read the name and titles carved in the centre panel of the lid. Ni-ankh-khnum, Royal Confidant, Palace Chief Manicurist, King's Acquaintance. Turning around, Daniel faced the second sarcophagus. Tomb robbers had damaged the lid during the New Kingdom period. The face was smashed as the looters had raised the heavy lid but the name and titles were still readable. Khnum-hotep, Royal Confidant, Palace Chief Manicurist, King's Acquaintance. 

A pair of male manicurists. Daniel could imagine what Jack would make out of that. The weird thing was that this time Jack would be right. The relationship between the two men buried in this tomb had been causing controversy since Ahmed Moussa had discovered it in 1964. 

Daniel moved through the archway, which led to the smaller Offering Chapel. There, covering the facing wall, was a picture of the two men. Ni-ankh-khnum was holding his companion's right forearm, while Khnum-hotep had his left arm across the other man's back clasping his shoulder. The men's noses were touching, as were their torsos and hips. The pair had been portrayed in the most intimate arrangement possible in the formularised cannon of Old Kingdom art. 

Daniel knew it was the intention that through the painting the pair would enjoy this embrace for eternity. As he reached out and touched the deeply etched lines of the carved picture Daniel realised he envied these long dead lovers. 

He stopped and blinked as he made the transition from the relative cool of the tomb's entrance into the baking whiteness of the Saqqara noon. He had arrived at the site shortly after dawn and hadn't realised that he had spent so much time in the company of the ancient lovers. 

Climbing up the low rock face which held the entrance to the tomb he scrambled onto the plateau to the funerary temple and pyramid of the Pharaoh Unas. Putting on his sunglasses he scanned the jumble of broken walls and columns for a sign of his driver. 

Daniel dozed in the back of the ancient Mercedes Benz on the drive back to town. Half conscious and half dreaming he slid back into the tranquil shadows of the tomb and stood before the portrait of the eternal embrace. He felt a wave of sadness wash over him as he remembered an ancient Egyptian love poem that he had translated in college. 

It spoke of the elation of new love, the comfort and contentment of growing old in love, and then concluded with the line "and death comes as the end." 

Death had always come as the end of love for him. His parents had died when he was young and he had not loved anyone again until he had met Sha're. Living with Sha're's people on Abydos had taken him far enough away from his world, literally and figuratively, that he had let his guard down, let someone penetrate into his core where he kept love safely encased. 

And now she was dead. She had been lost to him for a long time before that, taken as a host for the consort of Apophis. But her death had given him confirmation of what he had already known but would not admit. She was no longer his and that he would eventually always be alone. 

As Daniel recalled the words of the poem he became aware of a familiar scent filling his mind. It was the Tamarisk oil Sha're had used to anoint her body whenever they had made love. Daniel felt someone was standing close behind him, placing their hands on his shoulders, putting their lips close to his ear, their soft breath carrying inaudible messages to his heart. He wanted to turn but couldn't. 

A rut in the unpaved road caused the car to bounce, jolting Daniel fully awake and nearly throwing him off the seat onto the floor. Daniel slid back onto the seat and gripped the cracked leather strap hanging beside the window. He knew he had been dreaming but could not recall the details, only a sense of longing and loss. 

The old "King Unas" hotel was quiet when he entered the tiled foyer. There were no other guests braving the Egyptian summer, so aside from Daniel only old Farouk the owner and his wife Mareeka, were in residence. The old couple were in the habit of napping through the heat of the afternoon, so rather than disturbing them Daniel reached over the wooden counter and took his room key off the hook. 

Despite its age and lack of even "one star" amenities, Daniel loved the old hotel. He had stayed here when he had been a student and later when he had been here working on his doctorate or other projects. All of the rooms were simple, comfortable and clean and the best one, at the back of the small hotel, overlooked the Nile and had its own bathtub. 

Since Farouk and Mareeka had gotten to know Daniel there had never been any question of him staying in any room other than this one, even when he arrived without notice and the room was already occupied. The pair seemed to regard Daniel as an adopted son and would boast of his achievements and virtues as readily as those of their own numerous offspring 

Daniel filled the old tin claw footed tub with cold water, removed his clothes and glasses, and slid his body slowly into the water. Bending his knees he allowed his head to sink beneath the surface, staying submerged until he needed to breath. Surfacing he relaxed back against the gentle slope of the bath and rested his neck against its curved edge. Turning to look out the window he could see the river glinting through gaps in the papyrus reeds and bull rushes. 

He closed his eyes and luxuriated in the feel of the cool water against his warm body. He wondered whether taking his vacation time here alone had been a good idea. 

After several particularly taxing missions for SG-1, Doctor Frasier had recommended to the General that the team be given a month of R&R. Jack had gone to his cabin on a fishing expedition, Teal'c to visit his son on Chulak and Sam had headed to Barbados. 

Daniel had resisted Sam's attempts to convince him to accompany her to the Caribbean and had opted for time alone in Egypt. The fact that Jack had not invited him to come to the cabin had affected Daniel more than he would allow himself to admit. 

In the past Daniel had always been able to disassociate from the background sorrow of his life by submerging himself in his work. Translating some ancient text or sweeping back the dust of the ages from an artefact, he had been able to move outside of his own fear that he was unworthy of love. 

However this time it wasn't working, he had never felt more alone. 

Daniel opened his eyes. The room was dark and he could here the tinny, loudspeaker voice of the Imam calling the evening prayers from the mosque at the other end of the village. He looked out the window and could just make out the last lines of the golden sunset fading behind the cliffs on the Western bank of the river. 

After splashing water onto his face Daniel climbed out of the tub and commenced towelling himself dry. His reflection in the long mirror on the back of the door caught his eye. He dropped the towel to the floor and moved to pull the cord that turned on the exposed bulb hanging from the centre of the ceiling. 

He turned back to regard himself in the mirror. His body had changed in the last couple of years. The muscles in his legs, gut, chest and arms had all grown larger and more defined and he knew by the way that his clothes fitted that his back was broader and his butt tighter. Now with his hair cut short and without his glasses he realised that his image reminded him of someone. In an instant he knew whom. It was Jack. He was taller and fair where Jack was dark of course and Jack's chest was hairy, Daniel's smooth. But overall Daniel knew that his body was conforming to a masculine type of proportion and grace that Jack embodied. 

This revelation was followed by a physical reaction that had begun without Daniel being aware of it. As he continued to gaze into the mirror his hand was sliding over his firm belly, through the golden brown curls of his groin and wrapping around his already hardening cock. He moved the other hand behind him to run slowly over his lower back and grasp one side of his smooth, firm, golden butt. 

His eyes were closed now as he pounded, squeezed, twisted and tortured his flesh, the sweat pouring over his face like the river over the distant cataracts. 

As his climax shot from his body Daniel groaned Jack's name and crumpled to his knees, tears filling his eyes. Slumping to his side with occasional sobs escaping, his breathing deepened as he fell asleep on the cool tiled floor. 

The tomb was dark but held no terrors for Daniel as he stood before the image of the embracing lovers. He carried no flashlight but the etched lines of the wall carving glowed with a silver luminance that was bright enough to faintly light the chamber. 

He realised he was dreaming again when he became aware that he was naked. Was this the same dream he had coming back from the site earlier that day? It seemed familiar. He became aware of the scent of Tamarisk seeping into his consciousness, bringing with it the presence of someone behind him touching his bare shoulder and breathing in his ear. A voice using the dialect of Abydos spoke gently in his ear. 

The fish lives in the river's water but knows nothing of it, As we live our lives in love. The fish is held up by the river but knows this not. The river causes the fish to live, Are we not the same? 

There is the time of low water The fish buries itself in the drying mud knowing That always the inundation will come. Doubt not that love falls away but the flood will always come again. 

Daniel knew the voice speaking within his head was Sha're's. He wanted to see her once again, but as he turned towards her he felt something brush his cheek and her voice whisper, "No my husband, it is not time for that, first you must dive back into the flood." 

With those words Daniel felt the presence fade. 

Daniel woke with a start, found his glasses and pulled on his clothes. He knew what he had to do. Running down the wooden stairs he crossed the foyer and knocked on Farouk's office door. 

The old man called in Arabic to enter. As Daniel opened the door Farouk was closing a battered copy of the Quoran. 

"Daniel, what is it, you look excited? Have you discovered something?" Farouk asked in English. He had worked for the British in the Second World War and was proud of his command of the language; consequently he would speak nothing else to Daniel. 

"I need to get back to Cairo tonight. Can you arrange a car and driver for me?" Daniel asked in Arabic. 

"Of course my son but must you leave so soon, what is your need to be so quick smart?" Farouk replied disappointment on his face. 

"The flood is coming and I have to start swimming," Daniel exclaimed joyfully, embracing the old man and kissing him on both his cheeks. 

Daniel picked up his bag from the luggage carousel at Denver Airport. He left the terminal, took out his phone and froze. Then he heard a voice inside his head say, "Love may fall away but the flood will always come again." 

He dialled the number, gripped the phone tightly and held his breath. It was ringing. After what seemed a geological age to Daniel the phone was answered. 

"O'Neill. It's five o'clock in the morning and I'm on vacation. This better at least be a Goa'uld invasion or someone is going to die." 

Daniel hesitated. "Jack? Jack, its Daniel. How are you... caught any fish?" 

There was silence from the other end for a moment. 

"Daniel, did you call me at five in the morning to ask if I've caught any fish?" 

Swallowing hard Daniel took a deep breath and replied. "No, Jack, I called to tell you that I love...that I'm in love with you." The sound of Jack's breathing was the only indication that he was still on the line. Daniel's heart was racing. "Jack, did you hear what I said? I'm in love with you." 

Jack's voice was quiet and slow, "Daniel, are you still in Egypt?" 

"No, Jack, I'm in Denver, at the airport." 

"Stay put. I'll be there in an hour." 

Suddenly practical Daniel asked, "How are you going to get here from the cabin in an hour Jack?" 

"I'm not at the cabin." With that the line went dead. 

Daniel made his way to the coffee shop and settled himself into a booth by the window. He would be able to see Jack when he arrived. The sun was rising over the mountains to the east of Denver casting golden shafts of light across the slopes. Daniel imagined the same sunrise at Saqqara, the golden light flooding down the entrance hall of the tomb, slowly moving across the floor and gradually illuminating the image of the lovers in their eternal embrace.


End file.
